Coca-Cola Amatil today announced that it will close its beverages plant in the Adelaide suburb of Thebarton, leading to the loss of 180 jobs. Some of the employment is to be shifted to Queensland as part of a supply chain restructure.

Alison Watkins, CEO of Coca-Cola Amatil spoke to Ross Greenwood.

‘It’s a really tough decision’.

‘We need to invest in new capacity where the market’s going… more dairy, more juices’.

The Adelaide site is ‘constrained by where it is’ and is not suitable for further investment, Watkins said.

Ross asked whether the current sugar tax issue is a factor in the company’s decision making.

‘A sugar tax won’t work here in Australia.. it will hurt farmers, it will hurt manufacturing, it will hurt jobs’ 

‘A tax on sweetened beverages is not going to solve the obesity problem’

Listen to the full interview with Alison Watkins here: